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Health Care Providers in War and Armed Conflict: Operational and Educational Challenges in International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions, Part II. Educational and Training Initiatives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Frederick M. Burkle Jr ,
Adam L. Kushner ,
Christos Giannou ,
Mary A. Paterson ,
Sherry M. Wren  and
Gilbert Burnham
Frederick M. Burkle Jr*
Affiliation:
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard Universityand Harvard T.C. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, District of Columbia
Adam L. Kushner
Affiliation:
Department of International Health, Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
Christos Giannou
Affiliation:
International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, Switzerland Blizard Institute, University of London, United Kingdom
Mary A. Paterson
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, The Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia
Sherry M. Wren
Affiliation:
Center for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California Palo Alto Veterans Health Care System, Palo Alto, California
Gilbert Burnham
Affiliation:
Department of International Health, Center for Global Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Frederick M. Burkle, Jr, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, c/o 452 Iana Street, Kailua, HI 96734 (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

No discipline has been impacted more by war and armed conflict than health care has. Health systems and health care providers are often the first victims, suffering increasingly heinous acts that cripple the essential health delivery and public health infrastructure necessary for the protection of civilian and military victims of the state at war. This commentary argues that current instructional opportunities to prepare health care providers fall short in both content and preparation, especially in those operational skill sets necessary to manage multiple challenges, threats, and violations under international humanitarian law and to perform triage management in a resource-poor medical setting. Utilizing a historical framework, the commentary addresses the transformation of the education and training of humanitarian health professionals from the Cold War to today followed by recommendations for the future. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:383-396)

Keywords

international humanitarian lawGeneva Conventioncomplex humanitarian emergenciesInternational Committee of the Red Crosswar and armed conflict
Type
Commentary
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , June 2019 , pp. 383 - 396
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 

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